28 April 2006

A Memoir From the Age of Sneezes

I always had tissues on hand. Everyone learned that pretty quickly. We didn’t want to sneeze in anyone’s face. At first it was disconcerting, all the noise. Then it got kind of soothing. It was like a peculiar species of music: a constant symphony of hushed explosions. And so cleansing. At the end of the day I felt I was my true self. I had discharged all the daily impurities I had encountered and taken in. It sounds odd to say it now. The sneezes ended so long ago. We have nothing to replace them. Only our minds and willpower.